Liverpool Annie by Maureen Lee Read Free Book Online

wolfwhistles weren't surprising. The girl was the first genuinely beautiful person Annie had ever seen, with fine, delicately-formed features and ivory, almost translucent skin. Her long blonde hair was dead straight, cut in a jagged fringe on her forehead. Even from the back of the room, it was possible to see the startling azure blue of her eyes, the thick dark lashes under equally dark, perfectly shaped brows.
    'This is Sylvia Delgado,' Mr Parrish said brusquely. 'She's from Italy, and I hope you'll m.ikc her very welcome.'
    Italy! There was an excited buzz. There'd never been a foreigner at school before. The girl nodded at the class and smiled again.
    'It is so very nice to be here,' she said, in p>erfect English with just the faintest suggestion of an accent.
    The headmaster exchanged a few words with the teacher, Mrs Wayne. After he'd gone, Mrs Wayne looked around for an empty seat. As usual, there were vacant desks near the front. She indicated to the girl where to sit and told the class sharply to settle down.
    The agricultural map of Canada forgotten, Annie glanced covertly at the new girl, who was on the next row to her, several desks in front. Her long slim legs, clad in honeycoloured stockings and crossed elegantly at the ankles, protruded into the aisle, as if the desk were too small, and the heel of one black suede ballerina shoe was dangling from her toes. She wore a uniform of sorts: a gymslip made from fine serge material, more like a pinafore frock, with a scooped neck instead of square. The folds of the full flared skirt fell in a half circle beneath the seat. Annie felt convinced that the white blouse underneath this remarkably fashionable garment was pure silk from the way it
    shimmered when the girl bent her elbow and began to write.
    She would love Sylvia Delgado to be her friend, Annie thought longingly, not just because she was beautiful and wore expensive clothes, but because there was something appealing about her demeanour. She felt sure that, if they got to know each other, they would have lots in common - though probably every other girl felt the same. New pupils weren't usually accepted for ages, but it was bound to be different with this girl. Everyone would be clamouring to be her friend.
    But Annie couldn't possibly have been more wrong.
    She had no idea where the new girl sat at dinner time, but when they emerged from the dining room, Annie saw her standing alone in the playground, looking rather deflated.
    'Who's that.^' demanded Ruby Livesey.
    'Her name's Sylvia Delgado, she's Italian,' Annie said importantly. 'She only started this morning,'
    'Italian!' Ruby expostulated rudely. 'Why's she blonde, then? I thought Italians were dark.'
    'I've no idea.' Annie had wondered the same. 'Shall we talk to her?'
    'Not bloody likely,' Ruby snorted. 'Being Italian's almost as bad as being German. We fought them bloody Eyeties during the war.'
    Even Sally Baker, Ruby's trusted first lieutenant, felt bound to remark, 'But the war ended ten years ago. Ruby.'
    'Yeah, but even so!' Ruby stared belligerently at the new girl. 'I've changed me mind. I will have a word with her, after all. Tell her what I think of bloody foreigners.'
    'No!' cried Annie, but she was ignored. As the girls,
    by at their head, marched across the playground, nie trailed miserably behind. She couldn't wait for
    summer term when Ruby Livesey, who was already een, would leave. She was sick of belonging to her ig, fed up going to the pictures and seeing only by's choice of film, and hanging around in cafes dng to stupid boys. She would have broken off ations long ago, but lacked the courage, having :nessed what Ruby did to those who got on her ong side. She didn't fancy being dragged into a back ry and beaten up on the way home from school. Fwo boys were already chatting to the new girl when y arrived. 'Sod off!' Ruby barked. The boys looked her in surprise. They laughed, but readily departed. ; plonked herself squarely in front of